


Just for one Night

by Chikita



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Cheesy, Crying, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Insecure Kageyama Tobio, Kageyama Tobio-centric, Kageyama angst, Kageyama's Middle School Trauma, M/M, Nightmares, Sleepy Cuddles, Touch-Starved, Very Cheesy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-06
Updated: 2019-07-06
Packaged: 2020-06-09 12:29:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19475941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chikita/pseuds/Chikita
Summary: Kageyama thought he was over his weird middle school trauma, but after a nightmare at training camp, all the memories and insecurities come back to haunt him. It's good, that Hinata is there to catch him when self-doubt starts to take over.





	Just for one Night

**Author's Note:**

> This is the cheesiest, most feelsy thing I've ever written, but people liked the original so I made an English version. No character bashing here, just Kags being a mess. This is set before the whole "goody-two-shoes" thing or the big fight happened, so it won't be very canon compliant, or IC for that matter. But I hope you still like it. Not a native speaker btw.
> 
> I'm more of a comedy writer, so this is very different from what I usually write. Despite the the title, there isn't anything naughty going on. It sounded better in German.
> 
> German Version: https://www.fanfiktion.de/s/5bf162200004a1be3437df72/1/Nur-fuer-eine-Nacht

_Finally._

After many hardships, Karasuno had earned their spot in the semi-finals of the inter-high preliminaries. Only one match against Seijoh, _one single match_ and the road to the finale would be cleared, giving them a chance to prove themselves against Shiratorizawa and qualify for nationals. But right now, they couldn’t waste their time dreaming about that, when nationals still seemed so far in the distance. They had to win this match, crawl their way up to the top if they had to, give everything they’ve got to _not lose_ this time. Not again. Not after all they’ve done to stand here on this court today.

They had prepared themselves so well. Everyone had trained so hard, and yet, they didn’t seem to be able to compete against the sheer force, that was Seijoh. They were barely able to get their hands on the ball and if they did, their attacks were blocked. Over and over again. Kageyama couldn’t even remember the last regular point they’d scored.

Breathing heavily, he stopped in his tracks after yet another failed attack, gripped the hem of his shirt with both hands and stared down at the floor of the gym, black spots dancing over his vision and sweat dripping down his forehead. His arms and legs felt heavy. Everything hurt. The hall was warm and stuffy and it felt like something heavy was squeezing the air out of his lungs. Still, he forced himself to turn around and face his equally worn out teammates.

All of them looked at him as if they were expecting him to come up with a solution. Of course, he was their setter. He was supposed to be the central player of the match, the conductor, who was always in control at any moment. That’s what they were _expecting._

Their spikers could only hit the tosses, he was giving them. Judging by the scoreboard, he was doing a miserable job. If they continued at this rate, they were going to lose the match. They were going to lose, because his tosses weren’t as precise as they should be, weren't quick enough to pave the way for their spikers and enable them to break through the opponent’s defense. He had to play better than that. He couldn’t disappoint them a second time. _Not again._

After the Seijoh squad was done celebrating their last point, Oikawa went to the back of the court for his serve. Kageyama could’ve sworn, that he had just shot him a dirty grin, before the ball flew towards them, hard and straight. Nishinoya received the ball, successfully getting it up into the air. Dizzy with adrenaline, Kageyama yanked up his hands and instinctively tossed the ball to where Hinata was already jumping up with his arm stretched out behind him.

 _No! The ball went too high!_ _He had used too much force!_

Kageyama’s blood ran cold when Hinata only managed to reach the ball with his fingertips and was immediately blocked by Matsukawa. The loud “thump” of the ball, as it hit the floor on their side of the court, echoed through the hall, mocking them. Another point for Seijoh.

“Hey, Kageyama! How am I supposed to spike the ball like that?”, Hinata snapped at his setter, looking genuinely angry for once. Usually, Kageyama would retort with something equally snappy, but for some reason, his tongue was tied. Instead, he looked down at his hands, that were suddenly shaking, back to Hinata, and finally to the rest of his teammates, who all looked at him with varied expressions of discontent. _Of course_ , they were blaming him for the failed attack. The realization made his stomach turn and sent a shiver down his spine. _What the hell was wrong on with him? What happened to their freak quick?_

“There it was again, the king’s toss,” Tsukishima scoffed and shook his head with a sneering grin, “I suppose, some things never change.” Kageyama wanted to say something, _anything._ He wanted to yell at this four-eyes jerk for screwing with him again, but every word, every insult he wanted to throw in his direction ended up stuck in his throat. He couldn’t let it get to him. He had to keep playing, keep setting the ball and do everything in his might to turn this match around. They only had this one chance, and Kageyama wasn’t just going to waste it like that.

The referee’s whistle continued the match. Kageyama tried his best to concentrate with his eyes set on the ball, and _nothing_ but the ball. He almost felt like he was in a trance, the sensation distant, but oddly familiar. He had to make up for all the points they didn’t score in the first half before he was dragged off the court. But then, his next toss also missed and all the others that followed. Again, the ball dropped to the ground, and _again_ , Kageyama was painfully reminded of his failures. Tsukishima even made a nasty comment about his egoistic playing style returning, how he had fallen back into old patterns. It was like a curse as if someone had wiped his memory and got rid of every skill he had learned during the last months. _It was almost like he was back in…_

_No._

His hands clenched into fists and he shook his head. Kageyama wanted to speak up, wanted to defend himself, apologize, yell at someone to at least get the frustration out of his system. But instead, he just stood there with his eyes clenched shut, frozen to the spot. When he dared to look up again, a deep, black abyss had suddenly opened up between him and the rest of his team. The whole atmosphere in the gym had been turned on its head, icy coldness seeping into his bones, and when he looked down on himself, he was no longer wearing the black and orange jersey of the club. His clothes looked different. The gym looked different. The whole place seemed distorted, like a tasteless array of washed-out colors and shapes. With all that, the dizziness returned.

“Kageyama!”, the air was suddenly pierced by a deep, authoritative voice. His stomach turned. He already knew what to expect.

"Go sit on the bench."

\---

With a gasp Kageyama shot up in his bed, eyes wide open. It took him a moment to calm his ragged breathing and racing heartbeat before his sense of orientation kicked back in. He was in a dimmed room, alongside the rest of the teammates. It was quiet in there, only light snoring could be heard from the other boys. Of course, their training camp had started yesterday. Kageyama realized with a pang of shame, that everything he had just experienced had been another one of his stupid dreams, and yet he couldn’t stop himself from shivering. He still felt the dizziness and slight nausea, as if everything had been real. _Crap._

Frustrated and angry with his subconsciousness for messing with him, he ran a hand over his face and closed his eyes, that were slowly starting to sting. He hated that. He hated it _so much_ , and yet it had to happen again. He had thought, that he was finally over that stupid middle school incident, now that he was playing for Karasuno. There was no reason for him to replay that scene in his head anymore, and now, even his current team had found its way into his nightmares. _What the hell was wrong with him? Why couldn’t this shit just stop?_

“Kageyama, why are you awake? What happened?”, he heard a familiar voice right next to him, now, of all times, when he didn’t want to be seen by anyone. A glance to the side confirmed his suspicion. It was none other than Hinata, who was sitting upright on his futon, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and squinting at him in confusion.

“It’s nothing, go back to sleep!”, Kageyama snapped at him, but his voice lacked the usual bite. Silently hoping, that Hinata was drowsy enough to not notice anything strange going on, Kageyama turned on his side, stubbornly facing the wall and refused to even look at Hinata. Chatting with his teammate in the middle of the night wasn’t something he enjoyed, especially not, when he felt as miserable as he did right now. Hinata didn’t have to see him like that.

“Kageyama, it can’t be nothing if you’re _crying_ about it, ya know? Are you hurt? Do you have a stomachache? Wow, I knew there was something wrong with that pudding,” Hinata started rambling and asking stupid questions. Unfortunately, Kageyama’s plan to wallow in self-pity before he was drained enough by that to fall asleep again, didn’t seem to work out.

“Shut up, dumbass! I don’t have a stomachache!”, he barked and turned back around to glare at Hinata, who simply stared back at him wide-eyed.

“But you _were_ crying,” he remarked dryly, and Kageyama’s right hand flew up to his face to dab at his cheek. Indeed. It was wet with leftover tears. Hinata must have good eyesight if he’d noticed _that_ with how dark it was in here. _But still..._

“Yeah, so I _was_ crying. What’s the deal with that? You cry way more often than I do,” he said, even louder this time to cover up his embarrassment. Hinata jumped from where he was kneeling on his futon and looked around the room in an almost fearful way. A moment later, he shot him a reproachful look and moved a finger up to his lips, brows furrowed tightly.

"Kageyama, you’re too _loud_. If you need to let off steam, we can go outside and you can yell at me all you want. But if we do that in here, the others will wake up and rip our heads off,” he almost whispered. Kageyama wondered if he should accept his offer. It wasn’t like he would be able to fall back asleep soon, with how worked up he was after his nightmare. Hinata took that decision from him by getting up and looking down at Kageyama with his hands on his hips. Of course, he could just try to ignore him, but Hinata was as stubborn, if not _more_ stubborn than he was. Maybe he _would_ feel better after stretching his legs a bit.

\---

A few minutes later, the two of them walked through the dark corridors of the house in silence. There was a strange melancholy in the air, and Kageyama felt the need to say something, but just like in his dream, the words wouldn’t come out. As they passed the kitchen, Kageyama paused for a moment, pondering if he should suggest digging around the fridge for some leftover food. But then he remembered Hinata’s pudding comment and decided _no_ , he wasn’t that hungry anyway, and he certainly wasn’t going to risk an _actual_ stomachache.

Once they were outside, they stepped onto a small porch from where they had a great view at the starry sky above. The night was warm and clear, typical for midsummer. There wasn’t a single cloud up there and the full moon illuminated the place, giving it an almost serene atmosphere. Hinata sat down on the floor, pulled his knees up to his chest and motioned Kageyama to sit beside him. So he did.

The first thing Kageyama did, was taking a deep breath to let the fresh air soothe his nerves. It seemed to work, and he soon felt his usual tranquility return. Maybe the presence of Hinata had managed to calm him down a little as well. Whenever he had similar dreams at home, there was no one to talk to, other than his parents, who wouldn’t understand half of the things he said to them. His family, while supportive, had never been crazy about sports, let alone volleyball. The affirmation, that he really _was_ alone with his problems, always managed to add to his depressive mood. But now Hinata was there, and even though he was a _dumbass_ , he at least seemed to care.

“So, what’s the matter?”, Hinata finally asked after they’ve been sitting in silence for a while. Kageyama wasn’t sure if he was supposed to find the sudden closeness between them pleasant or unpleasant, but he _did_ feel a somewhat fluttery sensation in the pit of his stomach. Maybe he was just sick and had chills or something. Or maybe he really shouldn’t have eaten that pudding at lunch. He just hoped that he would be okay the next morning.

“Hey, you know you can talk to me about anything. We’re friends, remember?”, Hinata said in a much more gentle tone and even put a hand on his shoulder. His grip was warm but firm. Kageyama sighed and reluctantly turned his head around to look at his friend properly. Did he even _want_ to talk about it? It seemed like a waste of time, considering, that dreams weren’t real in the first place. Hinata couldn’t exactly snap his fingers and make them disappear.

“I had a nightmare,” he finally admitted, leaned back slightly and rested his hands on the smooth surface of the wooden floor. It didn’t take Hinata long to start asking questions, and Kageyama knew, that he wouldn’t leave him alone, until he had told him everything down to the very last detail, so he did just that. He tried to be matter-of-fact about it and not give away too much about his emotional state. It was bad enough, that Hinata had caught him crying. The last thing he needed, was to be teased for making a big deal out of _nothing_.

“Um...okay, so when did you start having those nightmares?”, Hinata asked after a while and shot him another worried glance. Kageyama averted his eyes and answered with a tired shrug.

“Since that... _incident_ in middle school probably, but I stopped having them after our first match as a team. I really thought that shit was over,” he said, frustrated with himself, “I can’t believe I’m getting distracted by something pointless like that when I should be thinking about the spring tournament. It’s annoying.” And now, he was putting a burden on Hinata as well. _Great._ He really had a thing for making everything worse for his team.

“I don’t think people have nightmares like that for no reason,” Hinata said, hitting a sore spot with his words, “ _But_ , it’s not like you have to doubt yourself, just because you messed up a few tosses in your dream. Everyone has weird dreams sometimes, and aren’t you some kind of genius setter? I’m sure you’ll do fine at our next matches.” Hinata shot him a smile, that was probably supposed to be reassuring. It didn’t really feel like it, though.

Kageyama thought about his words. They seemed so simple and yet, he didn’t know what to make of them. Of course, he was talented and had the potential to be successful, maybe even make it into the national team at some point. That belief was drilled into him since he joined the volleyball club in middle school. But did that make him a good player? A good _setter?_ Hadn’t he just failed in his first real match against Seijoh? Just like he had failed in middle school?

“I mean...you've heard what Ushijima said. Nobody needs a setter, who won’t devote himself to his team and bring out everyone’s potential,” he finally stated what had been on his mind for a few minutes now, “Being gifted isn’t everything.” His voice sounded cold and bitter, and with that, he felt all the negative emotions creep back up until they were threatening to choke him from the inside. It had been a mistake to follow Hinata outside. He should’ve stayed in bed.

“Wow, and you actually took that to your heart?”, Hinata asked, looking at him in disbelief with his head cocked to the side as if he wanted to say: “What the hell, Kageyama?”

“Of course I did. He wasn’t wrong,” Kageyama replied with a huff and leaned forward again to fiddle with his thumbs. In his mind’s eye, he could still see the overwhelming presence of Shiratorizawa’s ace, the way he had talked to them on the school’s campus. How he had been so confident, so _calm_ and assertive. He really was an outstanding player, on and off the court.

“Do you know, what _I_ think of that Ushiwaka guy?”, Hinata suddenly asked in a voice, that sounded almost provocative. When Kageyama glanced over at his partner, the shorter boy had his arms crossed over his chest and his lower lip protruded in a sulky pout.

“I think he’s a bigheaded know-it-all. But, please don’t tell him that, or he’s gonna kill me at our next match,” Hinata continued, sounding slightly nervous towards the end of his speech, as if he feared, that Kageyama would take out his phone right at this moment and text Shiratorizawa’s ace about their late-night conversation. Ironic, given that Kageyama didn’t even have the phone numbers of most of his _own_ teammates.

“You’re a dumbass, Ushijima is one of Japan’s best young players, and by far the best spiker in the prefecture. He went to _nationals._ We’re nowhere near his level.” Kageyama replied, already annoyed by Hinata’s baseless confidence. Hinata just answered with a sigh.

“I’m not saying he’s not _good_ , but he’s just so full of himself,” he said, continuing with a mockingly serious face and his voice lowered a few octaves “Seijoh players all suck, except for Oikawa. Blah blah...infertile soil..blah blah. Sorry, for offending you, but I’m Ushiwaka and you’re all peasants. I’m going to nationals _again_ this year and no one can stop me, ‘cause you all suck!”

Kageyama wasn’t sure, what Hinata was trying to accomplish with his weird impersonation, but he still vividly remembered him standing up for Karasuno when Ushijima had signed their team’s death sentence in the qualification phase. Usually, his partner was a coward when it came to conflicts of any kind, especially when it meant going up against stronger, “scary-looking” opponents. Considering that, Hinata’s comeback had been impressive and honestly, _kind of cool_. But Ushijima had a point. Realistically, they hadn’t achieved _anything_ yet.

“We lost to Seijoh, and that’s a fact,” Kageyama said, still sounding as bitter as he felt, and started scowling at his feet, “If we can’t win against _them_ , we won’t stand a chance against Shiratorizawa. If I can’t manage to surpass Oikawa as a setter, I will never be good enough to-”

“Kageyama!”, Hinata cried out, and just as Kageyama fell silent, the smaller boy jumped up from the porch and whirled around to face him. Yet again, he had that furious, somewhat scary look on his face, the one he had used on Ushijima not too long ago. From the way he planted himself in front of him, with his hands clenched into fists at his side, he seemed taller and almost intimidating, even if the silly cartoon print on his pajama shirt weakened that effect a bit.

“If it were for Ushijima, Karasuno wouldn’t have a chance anyway, so why do you think it matters? And why do you think you’re responsible for everything?” The angry glimmer in his eyes destroyed the melancholic atmosphere, only leaving tension.

“Because I want to win, isn’t that obvious?”, Kageyama replied and leaped up from the porch himself. For a few seconds, the two of them looked each other in the eye, unblinking, sparks of electricity flying between them. Hinata had to raise his chin to be on Kageyama’s eye level, and even though it looked comical, he radiated a sort of confidence, that was almost freaky.

“We _all_ want that, and you won’t be alone on the court. We’re all ready to do our best here,” Hinata said, and Kageyama felt like he was _scolding_ him. Wasn’t it always the other way around? But regardless, he didn’t know what to say, and even if he did, he didn’t feel like arguing with Hinata at this moment. For some reason, there was a giant lump in his throat.

“You’re afraid,” Hinata said all of sudden, catching him off guard. He didn’t sound as angry as he did a moment ago, but for some reason, this made it _worse_. It was as if Hinata’s dry statement was stabbing right into his soul, digging up old wounds and leaving them to sting. Kageyama swallowed against the choked feeling in his chest and willed himself to stay calm. But when he went to clench his hands into fists, they already felt damp with sweat.

“I don’t want to become useless for the team, and end up on the bench again, okay? I’m fucking _scared!_ ” he finally confessed the real reason for his concern. He hated showing any kind of weakness in front of Hinata, his rival, but for some unknown reason, he was sure, that he wouldn’t use that one against him. After all, Hinata loved volleyball as much as he did. He knew what it was like to be left behind, to be kicked off the court, when all you wanted to do was _play_.

“Kageyama, I wasn’t there when your old team abandoned you, but you’re playing for Karasuno now. Whatever happened back then doesn’t matter, because it won’t happen again. You’re not the same player you used to be in middle school,” he said, and the wall of detachment, Kageyama had built around himself, was slowly but surely starting to crumble.

“Why are you so sure about that?" he asked, startled at how cynical he sounded, “Who says I’m not the king of the court anymore? Who says I’m not still a control freak, who can’t adapt to his teammates? Who says I’ll ever be a team player like Oikawa? Who? _Who’s_ saying that?” With each word, he became louder, until his voice started to audibly break. There were tears welling up in his eyes, and it took him all of his self-control to hold them back. He didn’t even know what kind of answer he expected from Hinata. It wasn’t like he could _lie_ to him.

“I do!” he said instead, and Kageyama’s eyes widened in surprise. He didn’t get it. After all, Kageyama had been the one, who caused Hinata and everyone else so much trouble since the two of them played for Karasuno. They fought all the time, competed over the silliest little things and hurled insults at each other on a daily basis. And yet, Hinata had been the first to cheer him up after Tsukishima confronted him with his past at their first practice match. He had trusted him right from the beginning, even with the freak-quick. But _why?_

“Listen. We’re going to beat Seijoh, Shiratorizawa and then we’ll go to nationals. You and I. You’ll send me tosses, and I will spike all of them, no matter what! I’m gonna do my best to keep up with you, and if we do that, we have a chance to win, and _neither_ of us will end up on the bench!”, Hinata’s eyes sparkled with determination, the moonlight reflecting in his eyes.

“Okay,” was the only thing, Kageyama said after Hinata’s motivational speech before he was overwhelmed by a surge of emotions. He wasn’t cold, and yet, his whole body started trembling. Bewildered by his body’s reaction, he clenched his hands again, bit his lip and tensed up to ward off the impending loss of control, but it was no use. Turning around to run away and escape was no longer possible, so he did the next best thing he could think of.

Closing what little space was left between them, he grabbed Hinata by his arms, who just stared up at him, his eyes radiating confusion and maybe even a bit of fear. Without hesitation, Kageyama pulled him into a tight embrace and pressed his smaller body against his chest, as his own body was racked by a dry sob. Hinata gasped in surprise but made no real effort to push him away.

Why was he realizing it just now? How much he needed Hinata? How glad he could be to have a partner who trusted him unconditionally? How Hinata had seen him at his lowest, the _worst_ he’d ever been, but still managed to come up with the right words to pull him out of even the darkest pits? Just, _how?_ How did he manage to make him feel so strong and so weak at the same time?

“Ka...ge...yama, you brute, you're going to crush me!”, Hinata croaked out, and Kageyama loosened his grip, but couldn’t bring himself to let go completely. Hinata probably thought, he’d lost his mind or something and he wasn’t wrong. But to Kageyama’s surprise, he suddenly relaxed in his arms, let out a small sigh and _returned_ the hug. Kageyama felt his smaller hands stroke over his back, and with that, all the tension and stress started pouring out of him, trickling down his face before vanishing into thin air. He allowed it to happen.

It felt... _liberating_.

“Kageyama…?”, Hinata eventually interrupted the silence between them, and Kageyama forced himself to pull back with a quiet sniffle. They couldn’t stand around like this forever, and Hinata must think he was a complete weirdo for clinging to him like that. He’d never had a long-lasting friendship, but he couldn’t imagine, that this was even appropriate.

“I’m sorry, I just-” he said, his voice sounding hoarse from all the yelling, as he turned his head and used the back of his right hand to wipe the remnants of his tears away. His face contorted in a grimace. _How pathetic. Falling apart like that..._ He lowered his arm and turned back to Hinata when he heard the other giggle.

“You sure look angry for someone who just cried his eyes out,” he said in amusement and Kageyama was grateful for the dark, because he could be sure, that at his point, his face must have turned as scarlet, as the color of Nekoma’s volleyball uniform. Hinata was smiling, and for some reason, Kageyama didn’t feel the urge to punch him for his comment. Instead, he just huffed and averted his eyes again. He really must have had a screw loose somewhere if his idiot volleyball partner managed to wrap him around his little finger like that. But maybe, that’s what nightmares did to you.

Yeah… _maybe._

“I think, we should go back to bed, now. I mean, it’s nice out here, but if Daichi and the others notice, that we sneaked off, we’re still gonna get yelled at,” Hinata said, scratching the back of his neck, and looking shy all of sudden, “You feel better, now? Right?” Kageyama wanted to at least call him out on his teasing, but he didn’t feel like it, so he just nodded. He was strangely calm as if a heavy weight had been lifted off his chest. There was even a flutter in his stomach, and this time he was sure, that the pudding at lunch couldn’t be the reason for it.

\---

A few minutes later, they were back in their own beds. Hinata was sleeping on his side, curled up in fetal position, with his blanket wrapped around his small body. Kageyama was wide awake next to him, staring at the ceiling and counting imaginary sheep. He had always had a hard time falling asleep after a bad dream. Most of the times, he didn’t succeed and then spent the rest of the night aimlessly wandering around the house, wrapped in a blanket himself, like some kind of ghost.

He couldn’t do that now, so he let his mind wander. He didn’t waste his thoughts on his dream anymore, as he couldn’t even remember any of the details. But he _could_ remember, how hugging Hinata had felt like. His gentle touch, his body heat...he missed it already. He wanted more of that, wanted to be even closer to him. Yes, he definitely had a screw or two loose, but did that _really_ make a difference now? After crying about a nightmare, yelling about volleyball in the middle of the night and impulsively hugging Hinata? _Not really._

Sighing, he glanced over at the pile of blankets next to him, which rose and fell evenly with Hinata’s breathing. Should he dare? Kageyama stayed in his own bed for a few more minutes, contemplating his options. Finally, he gathered all of his courage and skidded over to his sleeping friend. He dragged his blanket behind him and tried to be as quiet as possible.

After overcoming the last few centimeters in slow motion, he carefully draped an arm over Hinata’s middle and snuggled up to him from behind. Hinata was asleep, so he wouldn’t notice a thing. Kageyama was usually one of the first people to wake up at overnight stays and Hinata was known to be a heavy sleeper. He would just pretend, that nothing had happened. But tonight, Kageyama didn’t want to feel alone. He was _sick_ of feeling alone.

Kageyama was just about to fall asleep without trouble, when Hinata suddenly started squirming next to him, nearly giving him a heart attack. _Okay. Bad idea._ But really, how could he have been so naive and think, that Hinata, known for being an anxious mess, wouldn’t notice him literally sneaking up on him? With how many screws he had loose, he could probably fill a whole toolbox and mail it to his uncle as a birthday present.

“Kageyama, what’s wrong? Another nightmare?”, Hinata asked in a sleepy voice and rolled onto his other side to face him. Suddenly, they were so close, that the tips of their noses almost touched. Kageyama’s heart was beating so loud in his chest, he was afraid the whole room could hear it. He had never been that nervous, not even at important volleyball matches.

“No...I was cold and I thought...J-Just forget it! Go back to sleep!”, he panicked and for a moment, considered drowning himself in the river the next morning, so he wouldn’t have to face Hinata ever again. He was just about to flee back to his own futon and hide under the covers for the rest of the night when Hinata suddenly grabbed his arm and grinned at him mischievously. After he had successfully stopped Kageyama’s attempt at escaping, Hinata let go of his arm and instead reached for the corner of his own blanket.

“Come here, you just said you were cold,” he whispered, still smiling from what Kageyama could see, and lifted the blanket in an unmistakable motion. Yet again, Kageyama couldn’t be more grateful for the darkness that hid his flushed face as he accepted the offer.

When they were finally lying together under the same blanket, cuddled up and closer, than Kageyama had ever been to another human being, he realized, how wrong and absurd the whole situation really was. But no matter how many times he told himself, that he would regret his behavior the next day, the endorphins flooding his body told him otherwise. He felt warm and secure as if he found something, that had been missing all along.

Slowly, his eyelids started to feel heavy. His heartbeat calmed down and his remaining thoughts drifted away from him, like small birds spreading out their wings to fly high up into the clouds, where everything felt light and meaningless. He didn’t care about the next morning, the reactions of his teammates, who would probably be weirded out, his own guilt and shame about all that had happened. It didn’t matter. Tonight, he wasn’t alone, and surely wouldn’t be plagued by stupid nightmares anymore. Because even if the whole world turned its back on him, Hinata wouldn’t.

Tomorrow marked the real start of their training camp. They had the whole day off to play volleyball, throw punches and wrestle, fight and scream, and call each other “idiot” and “dumbass”, just like they always did. It was just for one night. Tomorrow, everything would be normal between them again and they would just be partners on the court.

But just for one night, he would pretend, that they were more than that.


End file.
